Category: Blog

  • Simplification

    Simplification

    In the winter of 2020, I was diagnosed with a rare, invasive disease that required the removal of my mandible, a bunch of teeth, and various random glands. In their place the doctors built a new jaw out of my left fibula, leaving me with a pound of titanium and a wicked scar across my…

  • Ubiquity

    Ubiquity

    It took several months, but I finally have my personal website to a point where I’m happy to share it with you, the undulating masses! I hope you find it easy to navigate and full of interesting and useful content. While I do plan to do some original content in the form of reviews, commentary,…

  • The Playthings of Rich Men

    The Playthings of Rich Men

    When the news broke that Elon Musk was buying Twitter, I was thoroughly unimpressed and ambivalent. One rich asshole is the same as another to me, so I didn’t think much of the acquisition. But I failed to take into account that Musk would use Twitter as a tool to flex his enormous wealth, ego,…

  • A Reboot of a Reboot

    A Reboot of a Reboot

    Hello there. I am Jason. The last time I blogged here was January 2020. I decided to give the website a facelift. Before my comeback in early 2020 was derailed by more health problems, I was in the process of launching the freelance side of my career. The site now has all that information. Very…

  • HEALTH: An update – BMP

    HEALTH: An update – BMP

    My recovery from a triple mandibular resection last February continues. The debridement surgery in September created a major quality of life improvement. Pieces of the bone that didn’t survive the transplant in February were removed, allowing my gum tissue to finally heal. My food options multiplied greatly. I’ve even gained a few pounds back from…

  • REVIEW: Plot over everything else?

    REVIEW: Plot over everything else?

    I’ve recently watched two television adaptations that created a pair of polarizing responses. On the positive side we have HBO’s Watchmen. On the negative side is Netflix’s The Witcher. Both series have a respected genre pedigree: one being among the great graphic novels of our time; the other is a series with a cult following…

  • IN OTHER WORDS: Matthew W. Quinn on How To Create Awesome Cover Art, or The Tale of Battle for the Wastelands

    IN OTHER WORDS: Matthew W. Quinn on How To Create Awesome Cover Art, or The Tale of Battle for the Wastelands

    When I was writing my independent military fantasy novel Battle for the Wastelands, one of the major people involved was none other than Apex Publications founder Jason Sizemore. Not only did he do a developmental edit back in 2016, but he proofread the manuscript, formatted it into an eBook and print book, and put me…

  • FOR WRITERS: Assertive Writing

    FOR WRITERS: Assertive Writing

    “I have great faith in fools—self-confidence my friends will call it.” Edgar Allan Poe, Marginalia One of the easiest ways to make your manuscript stronger is to practice assertive writing. Practicing Word economy can improve your writing, make your editors happy, and create narrative drive. What do I mean when I say to practice assertive…

  • FUN: Picking the perfect book as a gift for friends and family

    FUN: Picking the perfect book as a gift for friends and family

    If there’s ever a gifting trap, it’s the one that happens when you decide to buy a book for someone you know. I can remember several instances over the years where I could sense that the person receiving my gifted book was unimpressed for various reasons. But why would someone be nonplussed by a gift?…

  • FUN: FIVE Great Episodes of Television of the 2010s

    FUN: FIVE Great Episodes of Television of the 2010s

    It’s been an up and down decade. But one thing consumers have reliably counted on are quality television shows. The world burns around us, but damn if we don’t have some fine TV. Here are five of my favorite episodes from the past ten years.